(Basket)Ballers

By Roberto Santiago

The NBA Finals are here and we’re going to party like it’s 1999 (the last time the Knicks and Spurs met in the Finals). What does that have to do with baseball? Only that it gives me a chance to use some material I couldn’t fit into any other articles. As we reported in our profile on Yeshayah Goldfarb, the Ballers team president has known club co-founder Bryan Carmel since childhood. When I interviewed Goldfarb, whose scouting acumen is well known in baseball circles, I asked for a scouting report on Bryan. It turns out, they never played baseball together, but they do have a long history of pickup basketball. I asked each of them to give a scouting report on the other. So maybe we’re going to party like it’s 1996 (when these guys graduated high school.)(Y’all, I can’t keep explaining this stuff, please.)

Goldfarb on Carmel:

He can be a little grabbie when he plays. So he'll foul you some. He's long, like the way he is, but he's not overly coordinated. So maybe that's where the fouls come in. But he uses his length pretty well against most players, and that's kind of his advantage.

Roberto’s player comp: Mark Madsen

Carmel on Goldfarb:

Obviously, when we play, it's with our other middle-aged, athletically mid-level friends. Yeshayah has more natural physical strength and agility than most of the people that he's playing with but he'll just drive to the basket and shank it. He doesn’t have a lot of finesse. Can get rebounds, plays physical, but not a lot of touch. Able to dominate sometimes just because he's a much more elite athlete than everybody else. 


Roberto’s player comp: Jason Williams

While neither player is likely to threaten Billy and Sydney in a cash game, they might help win your over 40 rec league if you can put some shooters around them.

*Note: Carmel offered contacts who may be able to add to these reports. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Roberto Santiago is a third generation Berkeley boy currently raising the fourth generation. Roberto’s writing has appeared in Latina, Parents, and various online outlets. A lifelong baseball fan, Roberto worked briefly with the Boston Red Sox and once hit an RBI single off Spaceman Lee on a 2-2 changeup. It was his only at bat ever in a real baseball game. Find him on Instagram.